4 month old BF ds constipated?

MediaBride

DS has not pooped since last Wednesday.  He is a mess!!  This happened a few weeks ago, it was only 3 days, though.  THe pedi on call told me to give him 2 oz of water and if that didn't work do 1/2 a children's suppository (that did the trick last time).

He won't drink the water (we can barely get him to take a bottle as it is) and he keep squeezing out the suppository!  I try to gently hold it in but after a few "in and outs" (man... that just sounds sick!), he starts to cry hysterically so I gave up.

I know babies can go through this, but isn't 5 days a little TOO long?  Any suggestions?  By 8p he'sa screaming mess and he is usually a very content little guy.  Help!

Zenya

I hear up to 10 days is normal.  Is he nursing a lot?  are you feeding him any solids or vitamins?  If so I would cut those out.  Increase how much you're nursing him (if possible) and be prepared for the inevitable!

stacynikki

DS would go 8 days when he was BF.  We gave him a little bit of pear juice.  I think an oz mixed with an oz of water. 

KoriBrett

DD went 7-10 days for like 3 or 4 months straight.  Doc said it was fine as long as when it came out it was still mush.

She was a gassy stanky mess, and poop day = bath day LOL

omurray

Its a very common stage. I'm actually suprised that your pedi recommended the suppositories. I know my DS only pooped once a week for at least a couple months around that age. He'd get very uncomfortable those last couple days before the explosion too! I know when you're going through it, it can be hard to believe that its normal, but it is.   I remember I'd always put clothes I didn't care about on him on the days I thought the explosion might happen!!! 

josie402

DD was like that.  I know it's normal for BF babies to only go once a week, but she was miserable, and crying in pain.  We tried water, prune juice, and suppositories before her pedi recommended trying Miralax.  It took awhile to get the right dosage, but it finally helped.  And the funny thing is, that once I switched to formula when she was 9 months old, she was fine..all her constipation problems went away.  It was just the opposite of everything I'd read.  I hope he feels better soon!

emilykristene2006

KoriBrett:

DD went 7-10 days for like 3 or 4 months straight.  Doc said it was fine as long as when it came out it was still mush.

She was a gassy stanky mess, and poop day = bath day LOL

This was DD, too.

We would mix an oz of pear juice with an oz of water and feed it to her with a dropper (since she wouldn't take a bottle). She would go pretty quickly after giving it to her.

GL!

josie402

By the way, I'm not say to stop BF and switch to formula, I only switched because I was having major supply issues.  I just thought it was odd that DD was fine after we switched, I thought switching to formula would make it worse.

MediaBride

Thanks ladies!!  The pedi did tell me last week that it was normal (this was not the same pedi that told me to do the water or suppository), but I just feel bad for him b/c he is obviously uncomfortable. 

He, too, is a gassy, stanky mess.  I may try some water in a syringle and see what that does.  DS1 takes Miralax every day so I was actually wondering if that used it this young.  DS1 was never constipated until he was a toddler, so this is all new territory to me! 

 I swear he's either pooping every 10 minutes or not for days!!  For some reason, only when he's constipated, when I hold him like I"m going to nurse him he flips out.  I thought it was an ear infection (why I took him in last week), but it's not.  So maybe his belly hurts worse when he's lying down?  He hasn't been sleeping well either.

Poor little man.  I will ROLL if his explosiong happens tomorrow when my IL's are watching the boys.  My MIL is afraid of dirty diapers I think... she will lose her mind if all hell breaks loose (literally).

Bwahahaha

josie402

Molly started Miralax when she was 5-6 months old, I think.  We started at a teaspoon and went up to 3.  I kept calling her pediatrician and she kept telling me it was normal for them not to go often and just keep trying prune juice and water amd I kept saying that it couldn't be normal for her to be crying constantly and miserable all the time.  She wasn't sleeping well, I couldn't put her down, she was just extremely unhappy.  Within a couple days of starting the miralax, she was a different baby.  I was so glad I kept calling the pedi, even though I probably drove them crazy!